Ckeokge edward pbeettice



G. E. PRENTICE.

BELT BUCKLE- APPLICATION man MAY5, 1921.

1,433,652. v mama Oct. 31, 11922.

Patented Uct. 31, 1922.

UNETED STATES FATENT UFFHCE.

BELT BUCKLE.

Application filed. May 5,

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonon EDWARD PREN- men, a citizen of the United States, residing at Berlin, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Belt Buckles, of which the following is a specification.

My invent-ion relates to improvements in belt buckles, and the object of my improvement is simplicity and economy in construction and convenience and efiioiency in use.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved belt buckle, and part of the belt to which it is applied.

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the same. 1

Figure 4 is a rear elevation with the major portion. of the lever broken away, exposing the cam member.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the blank for the lever.

Figure 6 is a plan view of the blank for the cam member.

Figure 7 is an end elevation of the buckle, with the straps removed, the parts being approximately in the locking position.

Figure 8 is asectional viewon an enlarged scale on the line 88 of Fig. 7. 1

Figure 9 is a similar View with the parts in engagement for eiiecting the locking and clamping the belt.

Figure 10 is a similar view with the parts in position for releasing the movable end of the belt.

My improved belt buckle comprises a frame 10 that serves as the fixed member to which are attached or connected for pivotal action two moving members for cooperating with the said frame 10 for effecting the clamping of the removable end 11 of the belt.

The fixed end 12 of the belt is secured to a bar 13 on one of the said moving members, the particular member 14 to which it is secured being the lever.

The other moving member 15 is the cam member.

The frame 10 has a plain front wall 16 that is bordered at the top and bottom edges by the side walls 17 so that the cross-section is of channel-form. On the'rear side there may be a pair of wings 18 that extend inwardly, one from each of the side walls 17,

1921. Serial No. 466,911.

so as to partially enclose the rear face portion of the belt.

The side walls 17 have each an opening 19 for one of the pintles 20, which latter are provided on the lever 14, there being one on each side of the body portion 21 of the said lever 14.

The structure of the cam member 15 is po sitioned generally between the said body portion 21 and the front wall 16 and the pivotal support for the said cam member 15 is provided by means of a pair of ears 22 that are upturned relatively to the intermediate body structure 23 and are operatively mounted on the pintles by suitable bearingdholes 24 through which the pintles exten The bar 13 is separated from the body portion 21 to which it is connected by an opening 25 for admitting the fixed end 12 of the belt, so that the same may be looped around the bar. The short connecting arms 26 at the sides serve to connect the ends of the bar 13 with the body portion 21.

In the clamping position the bar 13 with the loop 27 of the fixed end 12 of the belt mounted thereon, is opposed to the free end portion 28 of loose or removable end 11 of the belt, and in order to avoid obstruction to the free movement of the lever 14 I prefer to provide an off-set bendin the structure of the lever 14, as indicated at 29, so as to set the bar 13 backwardly, relatively to the body portion 21. The oif-set bend 29 is convenlently provided by suitably bending short connecting arms 26.

The body portion 21 of the lever 14 is of flat, plate-like form, the pintles 20 being outwardly directed and connected to the end portion that is remote from the bar 13, which end portion may be designated as the inner end portion. Thus the said body portion 21 combined with the bar 13 serves as the outer arm of the lever 14.

The inner arm 30 of the said lever 14 is in the form of a tongue that extends forwardly from the inner edge of the body portion 21. Thus as the lever 14 is swung back and forth the tongue 30 will have a corresponding movement in the space between the pintles 20 and the front wall 16 of the frame 10. In the said space is the body structure 23 of the cam member 15, and the said body structure 23 is constructed and arranged so as to act in cooperation with the opposed front wall 16 as a cam for engaging and securing the belt, the removable end portion 11 of the belt being interposed between these parts when in the position for use. Also, the parts are so formed that the belt clamping space 31, between'the body structure 23 and the front wall 16, will be reduced within the operative limits provided, as the cam member 15 is swung in the direction of the pull on the removable end 11 of the belt, so that the effect of such pull is to tighten the clamping hold on the belt.

The actual clamping described is effected independently of the lever 14-, the body portion 21 of the lever 14 and the body structure 23 of the clamping member 15 being out'of contact.

The lever It serves as the means for setting the cam member 15 for the initial engagement with the belt for effecting the clamping and for releasing the belt from the clamping hold, and the part onthe lever that serves to effect these results is the tongue 30.

For cooperatingwith the tongue the cam member 15 is provided with a suitable lug structure at the two ends, comprising the lug 32 at the inner end and the lug 33 at the outer end.

The inner lug 32 is in the form of a simple lip that extends rearwardly from the inner edge of the body structure 23 sons to overlap and be in the path of the forwardly directed tongue 30 on the lever A, the said. lug 32 coming into engagement when the parts are operated for effecting the initial setting of the parts for effecting the clamping. The pull on the belt serves to effect the final clamping and during the movement involved the lug 32 may walk awayfrom the setting lug 32, so that in the finalcl'amping position these two parts may be out of contact.

-The outer lug 33 is supported from the outer edge of the body structure 23 and is likewise in the path of the tongue 30 and is the part that is engaged for the reverse, 1111-- locking movement of the parts.

Although the outer, unlocking lug 33 is supported from the corresponding, outer edge of the body structure 23 it is not connected directly thereto, the connection being indirect, through the medium of an interconnecting part 34, these parts being formed by suitably bending the sheet material of which the cam member 15 is formed. Thus the interconnecting part 34 is in the form of a lip that is directed rearwardly from outer edge of the body structure 23, and it may be made extra wide, as shown, to serve as a reinforcement of the structure of the cam member 15. The lip 32 is also made extra wide for the same reason.

' The lug 33 is integral with the rear edge of the interconnecting part 34, at the middle portion thereof, and is directed forwardly, towards the opposed body structure 23.

or the other.

By the construction described the body structure 23, which serves as the cam has an appreciatively greater length than the open, operative space 35 mentioned, and means are provided for making the length of the one essentially independent of the length of the other. i

In. the construction described, what may be designated as the tripping means are separate from the locking or clamping means.

The buckle described is what is known as a lever buckle, but differs from lever buckles of known form in being operative to clamp belt material varying through a wider range of thickness.

I claim as my invention 1. A belt-buckle comprising a buckle body, combined with a loopelement, and a belt-body gripping or clamping element, said loop-element being pivotally connected with said buckle-body, and said belt-body gripping or clamping element being pivotally connected with said loopelement, said loop-element co-operating with said gripping or clamping element to force the latter into gripping or clamping engagement with a belt-body.

2. A belt buckle comprising a frame having a front wall that is adapted to receive the loose end of a belt at the rear face, a lever pivotally connected to the said frame, opposed to the said rear face, and having means for receiving tllGfiXBd end of the belt, a cam member having a cam portion that is positioned between the axis of the lever and the said rear face, pivotal supporting means for the said cam member having the axis coincident with the axis of the lever, and tripping means on the said lever for cooperating with lug structures on said cam member for actuating the cam member responsive to, to and fro movements of the lever.

3. A belt buckle as described in claim 2,

the said tripping means comprising a tongue on the lever that is opposed to the said cam portion.

4. A belt buckle as described :in claim 2, the said lug structures comprising an inner lug that is connected to one end of the said cam portion and anouter lug that is con nected to the other end thereof. 1

5. A belt buckle as described in claim'2, and one of the said lugs being indirectly connected to the said cam portion through the medium of an interconnecting part. A

6. In combination in a lever-operated buckle, a frame having a seat for the loose end of the belt, a lever pivoted to the said,

frame and having an end for being connected to the fixed end of the belt, a cam structure in the form of a separate member, pivotally supported from the frame for effecting the clamping of the said loose end, the said lever and cam structurehaving interengaging parts for shifting the position 01 the cam member responsive to to and fro movements of the lever and the pivotal supports for the lever and cam structure being substantially coincident along a common axis.

7. A belt buckle comprising a body memher, a lever member and a cam member, the lever member operating the cam member to bring same in contact with the belt and rear front of the body member, the cam member having a relatively extended contacting face opposed to said. belt, and the cam member automatically adjusting itself to the varying thickness of leather or other material of which the belt is made independently of and separately from movements of the lever member.

8. A buckle comprising a plate having rearwardly extending flanges at its opposite edges forming a belt passage therebetween, a channeled cam pivotally mounted between said flanges, a lever plate also pivotally mounted between said flanges coaxially with said channeled cam, said cam and lever plate having limited free swinging movements independently of each other, and means for securing one end of a belt to said lever plate.

9. A buckle comprising a plate having one end of a belt to said lever plate.

GEORGE EDWARD PRENTICE. 

